The Mailboat Cybots are not going to just sit back and cross their legs, waiting on their opponent in the next round of play in the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) playoffs. Coach Wayde Watson and his team want to hit the court running, so Saturday's 108-86 win over the BTC Digitals was just a warm-up for them. The Cybots will now move on to the NPBA semi-finals, and await the winner of The Real Deal Shockers and the Pyramid Food Rockets. The third and decisive game in that series will be played on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the C.I. Gibson Gymnasium.
The Rockets bounced back, after dropping Game One. They captured the second, 84-81. Since the Cybots defeated both the Shockers and Rockets in the regular season, Watson said he's not feeling any pressure but noted that no team in the league will just give you a win. He wants his squad to play more team basketball and move away from selfish play, at times. "The key to us winning any game is to play as team," said Watson. "There are times we have persons complaining about not getting enough playing time.
That has to stop because we are a good team, and all of our players are capable of playing and leading the team, but they all must know and play their role. "In this game we were able to gel as a team, and that assisted us with the win, but we aren't too focussed on any of the teams. We have beaten both of those teams (Shockers and Rockets) in the regular season. Even though we have beaten them, I am not taking any of them for granted so we will continue to practice and prepare for the next series."
Topping the scoring charts for the Cybots was Jermaine Storr with 25 points, six rebounds, one assist and block. David Taylor netted 18 points, and Ernest Saunders scored 15 points. The leading player for the Digitals was Lloyd Bailey with 23 points, Lorenzo Carter chipped in with 21 points and Perez Thompson scored 12 points. The game with the Rockets and Shockers was the featured event of the night. That match had fans sitting on the edge of their seats. The Shockers got off to a fast start, in hopes of closing out the series.
They ended the first quarter with a six-point lead, but the Rockets would go on a 6-2 run in the closing minutes of the second. They outscored the Shockers 18-11 in the second quarter. Only two points separated the two clubs, when they returned to the court for the second half. Tameko Moxey and Adorn Charlow had the hot hands for the Rockets. The duo became unstoppable in the fourth, and led their team to the win. Both scored 19 points in the win. Henderson Curry added 15 and Demetri Mackey had 14 points. The top scorer for the Rockets was Corey Williams with 20 points.
Floyd Armbrister netted 16 points and Devon Brennen had 15 points. On Friday night, the Woodside Petroleum Conquerors took a one game to none lead over the Police Crimestoppers with a 102-89 victory, and the three-time defending champions Commonwealth Bank Giants started their post-season quest for a fourth straight title, with a 132-111 win over the PJ's Stingers.
In the Conquerors' upset of the Crimestoppers, Able Joseph and Christorr Stuart led them in scoring with 22 points apiece. Rashad Bain added 18 points for them. Jeremy Hutchinson paced the Crimestoppers with 24 points, Mitchell Johnson added 22 points and Vernon Stubbs contributed 13 points. In the Giants' win over the Stingers, Gamaliel Rose had 28 points, Michael 'Furley' Bain scored 25 points and Ricardo Pierre canned 23 points. Batchlette Lafleur had a game-high 29 points in the loss, Devon Ferguson contributed 19 points for the Stingers, and Tavares Roker had 14 points. The second games of those series will be played tonight.
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